Today was only the second time I’ve run since the Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon a couple weeks ago. It’s not that I haven’t had plans to run. In fact my regular Tuesday night crew was all set to go out and do our usual run. The issue is the large amount of wildfire smoke that’s been hanging around our area for the past week or so.

Thanks to come wildfires in Canada, and a wind out of the northwest, we’ve been experiencing some horrible air quality conditions. Some parts of the state were even approaching an AQI of 300 due to particles in the air. Thankfully we didn’t get much over 150 here in the metro area, but that’s still considered unhealthy for folks with lung issues like asthma. That meant that our Tuesday night run was a brisk walk in order to keep our breathing low. Two of us in the group have asthma and we wanted to avoid any issues, and walking was the next best alternative.

I have managed a few bike rides, but I’ve worked really hard to keep my breathing at a calm easy level. This isn’t hard to do on flats and downhills, but uphill is another story. During our Wednesday night Beer & Bikes ride I was downshifting into the easiest gears I could on most inclines to avoid deep breathing. It was still a good workout, but no where near the intensity I know I’m capable of.

Thankfully, on Thursday our winds shifted and this morning our AQI is down to 75. That means a nice 5 mile run around the neighborhood to get back into the swing of things. It wasn’t my best run by any measure. In fact I commented to my wife when I got home that it was phenomenally mediocre. But that’s OK. It got done, and I’m happy to be back at it.

Now we just need this heat wave to subside and the drought to end…sigh…